


Gladiators for a Day

by sleapyGazelle



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Banter, Battle Couple, Canon Divergence, Gen, but not necessarily in a shippy way, can be read as gen or shippy, gladiator pits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-06-25 09:15:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15637707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleapyGazelle/pseuds/sleapyGazelle
Summary: Keith volunteers for the all-important mission of rescuing the fugitive Prince Lotor from Galra hands. But the mission doesn't quite proceed as planned.





	Gladiators for a Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [achievingelysium](https://archiveofourown.org/users/achievingelysium/gifts).



> Written for an exchange. The prompt was to write something with characters who don't normally interact much in canon. I waited a good four seasons for Keith and Lotor to get some shared screen time, maybe even a swordfight, and since that didn't end up happening, I decided to use this opportunity to explore that dynamic.

“Prince Lotor is our best chance at peace for the Empire.”

“That was before he got himself captured. Breaking him out now is too great a risk. The Blade of Marmora _doesn’t do_ rescue missions.”

Keith listened as the the Blade of Marmora fighters argued over how to respond to the news of Lotor’s capture. A few months ago, he would’ve stayed out of it, knowing that his opinion would weigh little in the decision-making. But having proven himself over the course of multiple missions, Keith fully felt the weight of the words he was about to speak. “I can do it.”

Multiple pairs of eyes turned to him, and he continued,

“A full on mission would be too risky. But for one man to sneak in won’t be too impossible.”

Antok began to respond, “The logistics of breaking into an imperial ship--” 

“Don’t forget this is Lotor,” Keith interrupted. “We don’t need to _rescue_ him. We just need to enable him to fight his way out.” He knew his point was all but won when his fellow Blades fell silent in contemplation before turning to Kolivan for a decision. 

“Very well,” decided Kolivan. “In and out, Keith. Remember, if you get yourself caught, we can’t send anyone after you.”

Keith nodded shortly. He had to try. If there was even a chance of peace with Lotor, the universe couldn’t afford not to give it a shot. “I know what I’m going into. But I won’t get caught.”

* * *

“You've gotten yourself caught, Paladin,” Lotor observed. 

Keith had managed to sneak onto the ship transporting Lotor, but before he could find the fugitive prince, he’d found himself bound by ropes that glowed and burned when he struggled too hard. And _then,_ he was handed a shitty sword and thrown into a gladiator ring, where he came face to face with Lotor. At least he thought it was Lotor. There was a helmet covering most of the man’s face. His hair was tucked into it too, with only a single lock of white visible through the visor. The giveaway was the eyes: shining purple irises set into dull yellow sclera. 

“Yeah thanks, Prince Obvious,” Keith retorted. “What the quiznak are you doing here?”

“Trying to escape. Obviously.” Definitely Lotor. The smooth voice was unmistakable. 

The sparse but energetic crowd hollered at them to get a move on, and Lotor lunged without warning, coming right for Keith’s uncovered face with his sword. 

Keith parried. The weapon was far too light in his hand, and he gripped it with both hands, blocking attack after attack. “How is this escaping?” he demanded between grunts. 

“I snuck out of the cell they were keeping me in,” Lotor elaborated, not even out of breath as he continued the offensive, “and now I'm impersonating a gladiator. The imbeciles who run this place have no idea it's me.” 

“That explains why the crowd is so thin.”

“That, and it’s not a big ship. But I'll have to amp up security here once I attain my throne.” 

“They caught me,” Keith pointed out. “They're doing _something_ right.” He focused his efforts on parrying, trying to give himself time to adjust to the sword’s weight distribution; it was nothing like his bayard or his Marmora blade. Just when he was starting to get winded, Lotor finally backed away a few steps, presumably having studied Keith’s movements to his satisfaction. 

But Lotor wasn’t the only one keenly observing. The two circled each other. Keith watched as Lotor’s feet made the slightest movement, and then he was dodging the next attack, driving his own blade into the prince’s side. 

Lotor twisted away and then came at him with a counterattack. 

Conversation abandoned, they clashed and separated again and again, the sparks coming from their swords delighting the audience. 

“So do you have a plan?” Keith gritted through his teeth as he pushed against Lotor’s blade with his own.

Lotor sneered. “They don’t let gladiators leave the ring until one is dead. At _least_ one.”

“Then I hope you’re prepared to die,” Keith shot back. 

“Don’t be so dramatic.” Lotor rolled his eyes, sliding away with grace. His hair rippled against his back like an impractical cape. He was one to talk about being dramatic.

“Are you thinking…”

“Indeed I am, Paladin. If you can trust me, that is.”

Keith considered. “I don’t. But your best chance of escape is if we work together, so I trust your sense of self-preservation.”

Lotor nodded, backing away and eyeing the way to the escape pods. 

In their fight, they’d wandered about as close to the doorway as they could. And Keith could see now that that was no accident. Lotor was panting slightly now, Keith noted with a tinge of satisfaction. It was Keith’s turn to smirk. “Let’s do this.”

There were three guards spread out along the perimeter of the gladiator ring. Keith and Lotor exchanged a look, then turned back to back, rushed forward, and took down two of the guards. Without the element of surprise, the third was harder to get rid of, and the crowd’s roars were turning to ones of panic as those who were armed drew their own weapons. 

The two of them brought their swords down in unison, overpowering the guard with their combined strength and speed. 

And then, in the midst of criss-crossing laser fire, they were off, racing past the edges of the arena and down the nearest corridor. 

“Are you keeping up on those tiny human legs?” Lotor called back, a few paces ahead of Keith.

“My legs are just as Galra as yours,” Keith snapped, without breaking pace. “There’s a turn up ahead that we need to take,” he added.

“For a new prisoner, you do know your way around this place.”

Keith scoffed. “I studied the blueprints before infiltrating; I’m not an amateur!”

“And yet you got yourself captured…” Lotor let the insinuation dangle.

Keith rolled his eyes. “Just get on the damn pod.”

“You won’t be ordering me around for much longer,” Lotor muttered, but he slammed his hand on the keypad to unlock the hangar doors. 

Keith’s patience was running thin. “Can you go five minutes without making a threat?’ 

“Oh no, it’s not a threat,” Lotor assured him, “it’s optimism. I only meant that soon we will have escaped and gone our separate ways, so we certainly won’t be giving each other orders.” 

Keith grumbled to himself about how convincing everything sounded in that silky baritone. 

Before he could join Lotor in the hangar, the first of a few guards caught up with them, and while Lotor readied a pod, Keith fought them off. He felled four towering soldiers, only to have another eight take their place, with more coming. “IS THAT POD READY?” he yelled.

“Just hold them off for another moment!”

Keith groaned and grabbed a blaster from one of the fallen Galra. Tossing his terrible sword aside, he fired the blaster, aiming for anything and everything. 

“All right, let’s go!” The sound of Lotor’s voice had never been more welcome to Keith’s ears. 

Still shooting to hold the guards back, he backed up into the hangar until he reached the pod. He climbed in, firing the gun until the last possible second before pulling his arm inside so Lotor could shut the door and take off. Which he did, with laserfire bouncing off the pod from a dozen directions. 

“This is quite the send-off!” Lotor laughed. 

“Just focus on flying.” But Keith was grinning. Even he couldn’t deny the endorphins from a successful escape. And yet, it felt so _off_ not to be in the pilot’s seat. 

As if he could hear Keith’s thoughts, Lotor asked, “Do you feel like you should be the one flying?”

“Depends on how poorly you do,” Keith bit out.

Lotor chuckled. He was flying very smoothly, much to Keith’s irritation. “You know, Paladin, you and I have more in common than you realize.” Before Keith could protest, he continued. “Flying is when I feel the most alive, followed closely by fighting. I would think that’s something you relate to?”

It was. “I thought you were going to lead with the half-Galra thing,” he said lightly, clenching his hands into fists just to give them something to do. 

Lotor smiled. “That one is both a similarity and a difference the way I see it. For you, an Earthen as you are, it’s your Galra side that makes you different from your people.”

“And for you, it’s the opposite,” Keith realized. “And in both our cases, our moms....” He trailed off, and Lotor didn’t bother picking up the thought. He didn’t have to.

After a few moments of silence, Keith used the pod’s comms to make contact with the Blade. It was decided they would pick Lotor up a couple of systems away, and Keith would join Krolia on a new mission.

Once Keith disconnected, Lotor spoke up again. “Goodbye for now then, Paladin.”

Keith offered him a half-smile. “I have a feeling our paths will cross again.”

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: [writing blog](https://sleapywolfwrites.tumblr.com/) | [VLD sideblog](https://sir-klancelot.tumblr.com/)  
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/sleapygazelle)


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